Is WWIII Starting?

[Jack_Dawson]

My Mom always said I had the "gift" of pushing my brother's buttons and setting him off with minimal effort. Israel by my count has had three soldiers kidnapped and while that is horrible, its reaction seems rather disproportionate.

Add to that our jackass government which has lost all shred of credibility and...

the already uncertain financial markets which freak out over a fucking quarter-point rate hike, now are digesting what looks to be a complete meltdown in the Middle East.

Good Times. Thanks Bush & Co.! :hi:

[dubeskin]

1. Buddy, it's already started.

When we first invaded wherever it was we first invaded, it began. It almost doesn't matter where we invaded now.

[Ringo84]

2. Better not have

I want to live a long life. I'm only twenty-two blessed years old! I want to get married, have kids, start myself a career, and one day be an old curmudgeon talking about how spoiled my grandchildren are and how my generation was satisfied with the internet. Thanks to President Jackass and his stupid-ass, Bible beating RW followers, I may not get to see thirty!

It's too hasty to say that WWIII has already started. The world's not ending tonight. But it's scary to think what could come out of this conflict...
Ringo

[JuniperLea]

16. I have kids your age, Ringo

And I want the same for them.

I feel guilty that I've lived almost half a century and you and my kids haven't lived half of that.

If I could, I'd share some of my years with you guys.

I wish you a long, happy, full, funny and loving life.

Peace, little bro...

[Ringo84]

24. Juniperx

Thank you, Juniper. I appreciate your response.

Sometimes, I feel as though I was born too late to enjoy some of the really cool stuff that happened in the 60s and 70s. But I think that the 80s were a pretty good time to be born and the 90s were a pretty good time to grow up - even though Emperor Dumbass rose to power just as I was able to vote (he and his cronies have made me more cynical than I probably should be at this age).

Anyway, I wish the same to you. :pals:
Ringo

[SOteric]

3. The superpowers of the world have been

playing a complex game of brinksmanship for decades now. Many of Earth's prominent countries have been nuclear capable for a lengthy period of time. Whether we are conscious of it daily or not, the inhabitants of this little planet we call home has long been in danger of annihilating themselves.

Since I have been an aware functioning human being, and even before that time, there has been tension and off & on wars in the Middle East; -often while the world experienced tensions elsewhere, and sometimes while the U.S. was under the domination of a real goober of a political regime.

Maybe it will all end in a fiery glow tomorrow before dusk. But somehow, I find that unlikely.

If I'm wrong, you're welcome to look me up and act like an ass about it. :hi:

[upi402]

4. looks a bit like that

ww3 will probably be a '3rd world' war. i've often thought that states will be desperate and despotic as a a result of powerful corporatocracies' exploitation. some arab states are very poor on the street. a theocracy in iran, iraq, and a quasi one in israel. pakistan on that brink with a nuclear bomb. iran may be the next entrant in that sick club.

oil going critical, us dollar weak and shaky...

and * has set us up as being viewed as the great satan for real now. not good.

[everythingsxen]

5. Reprinting my reply from another thread...

This thread here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=1627672&mesg_id=1627672


Yes, this is WWIII
Yes, this is actually happening.

Syria and Iran will become "involved" in the conflict.

The US will also become "involved". (though I suspect our involvement will be in keeping Iranian troops from reaching Syria by fighting in the blood soaked sands of Iraq)

Russia and China are going to sit this out. They will continue to support Iran passively by selling them weaponry and buying their oil/natural gas.

Europe will also sit this out.

Pakistan is going to stay out as well. They are a Muslim nation yes, however they have their own problems and have no way of supporting the conflict. Also they are a military dictatorship first and foremost; Muscharef(sp?) doesn't have a death-wish, he is going to want to remain in power as best he can and I assume he knows that is by staying out of this one.

Britain may aid the US, after all they have no choice. Plus this is all their fault to begin with so they damn well better be involved. (I blame them for the map re-drawings of the mideast as well as the way the entire Israel solution was handled)

Australia may also assist the US. Same for Canada.

The UN is going to pass around a lot of resolutions and the US will veto most of them.

Egypt will do nothing for the same reasons I outlined for Pakistan. They have little to gain by entering the conflict. There will be no doubt a lot of "terrorists" and "foreign fighters" pouring out of North Africa though who will be unconnected to any Government (officially).

Saudi Arabia will publicly call for peace and calm, but privately will be sending "terrorists" and "foreign fighters" and most important bankrolling. Same for the UAE and other small Islamic states.

This is going to happen, because it pretty much has to. The fanatics will see this as the best chance they will ever have and they are right. The US is too bogged down to really help Israel and Israel is under a tremendous amount of pressure.

Obviously there are a lot of wild-card nations as well as various entangling alliances that could alter who the players of this game are.

Nukes are definitely on the table, though I suspect it will not be a worldwide full-scale nuclear war. It will be limited to essentially tactical nukes; I believe a lot of chemical weapons will be used though.

---------------END QUOTE--------------

Since making my prognostication, Saudi Arabia has publicly denounced Hizbollah; whether they are covertly doing what I said they will do... time will tell. Sooner or later, time will tell.

[HuffleClaw]

8. a good analysis

i've thought for a long time now bush and israel were going to create a crisis to justify war. the end game seems to be a 'justification' for an extensive air campaign against iran of course, and likely syria for good measure.
as for nations jumping to bush's aid? i think everyone concerned is gonna suddenly have business elsewhere, the UK included. harper (of Canada), though a dyed-in-the-wool neocon bushista, is not going to risk his government by calling for a vote (that he knows he'd lose) to support any military action, though he's sure like to. i DO expect a sudden spate of un shenanigans, which will be intended to hand bush a 'loophole' that he can claim will make any war 'legal', but i doubt china and/or russia will allow it.
we're in for an 'exciting' summer for sure.

[leeroysphitz]

22. If Russia and China "sit this one out" the it will not be WWIII

By definition it will not be a "world" war. It may get pretty ugly and I think it's going to get worse before it gets better but if western nations aren't in direct conflict with Russia and China then even widespread fighting, wether the U.S. is involved or not, will still be regional.

[MnFats]

6. Yes. The Fundies had it right all along.

Get to a fundamentalist church, pentecostal, baptist or something, get baptized.
Otherwise you're fucked.

[readmoreoften]

7. I don't know, I feel like times have changed since I was younger.

Growing up in the 70s and 80s, there was always this scary "what if" but the sense that it was probably not going to happen. I always felt like, "There aren't any truly crazy people in power right now who can press "the button", but what if a crazy person gets in power?"

Now I feel like there are only crazy people in power. In the 70s and 80s, I felt like I could see destruction on the horizon. It was a long way off and there was plenty of time to divert if we were on the wrong path, but I felt it's ominous presence. Now I feel like we are rocketing towards disaster. Like the novel is ending and the plot is converging towards its only possible conclusion. I don't know how many pages are left. It seems like we're nearing the end. My only hope is that there might be a sequel.

[JCMach1]

9. No, it's not

[baldguy]

10. If it is, I fear that we are on the wrong side.

not that there's a RIGHT side in this farce

[Mongeaux]

11. Aren't We up to WWVI by now?

or at least IV.

[baldguy]

12. No WWIII will be fought with nukes.

WWIV will be fought with stone knives & wooden spears.

[DELUSIONAL]

14. By the neocon's count this would be WW IV

WW III was the cold war.

But then the Neocons live in an alternative Reality -- and who cares what the f*** they think anyway.

( Speaking of using "bad" words -- I find using the **** make a word more suggestive. That could be -- who cares what the fiddle they think anyway.)

[lonestarnot]

13. Looks like a big ass mess to me. Yes I think we are seeing the

beginning.

[jerry611]

15. Einstein said World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones

"I do not know what weapons will be used in World War III, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones."
-Albert Einstein

[SensibleAmerican]

17. Israel has been at war for 50 years

n/t

[Name removed]

18. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[ndcohn]

19. no

first, i find it hard to believe that egypt and syria feel like launching their militaries into total annihilation. if they wanted to attack, they would have already. the fact that they have not suggests that they are fully aware that it has no purpose other then to annihilate their army

second, even if they did israel won't need rescue, they can handle the arab states just fine on their own, even in the event of full scale war.

the real worst case scenario is an iranian cbw attack triggering israeli retaliation. we are very far away from that now and i doubt that will happen. i think iran will wait until it has the bomb to pull something like that.

even then, i dont see the scenario for the great power war you just suggested. china definetly won't start it, its not in their interest - they want to keep their economy growing, this is pretty clear. Russia doesn't have the capability to start it. Are you saying the U.S. is going to attack China and Russia? as if we could even if bush was crazy enough to want to.

in short - no world war three.
you can sleep soundly tonight haha

[liberal N proud]

20. It started in 2003, when bu$h ordered the invasion of Iraq

The United States under the mis-leadership of George w. bu$h will be credited with starting this world war.

[Jack_Dawson]

21. But we were spreading democracy!

:eyes:

[Oak2004]

23. Wasn't that the excuse for WWI? nt